Mount Gilboa at dawn: a long, bare, stony ridge in gray first light, wild grass and thistles on its slopes, the wide Jezreel valley below in mist, the rounded hill of Moreh faint beyond, empty and still under a calm pale sky.

The Book of

1 Samuel 31

Samuel said, ‘tomorrow.’ It is tomorrow on Mount Gilboa.

13 verses≈ 3 min2 peopleBSB

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–7SamuelA boy who listened
8–15SaulA king like the nations
16–20David risesThe LORD looks at the heart
21–27David huntedThe anointed one waits
28–31Saul fallsEndor and GilboaChapter 31

Saul’s Overthrow and Death

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

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The Philistines hotly pursued Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.

So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.

The Philistines Possess the Towns

When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

Reflect

Finishing well

Saul began a head taller than everyone, chosen and gifted, and ended on Gilboa. A good start is not the same as a faithful finish. What does his story teach you about finishing well? Write down one way you want to keep obeying God over the long haul.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

The word that came true

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Every step of Saul’s fall followed a word God had spoken. Samuel anointed him king. He did not wait for Samuel, and was told his kingdom would not last. He spared Amalek, and the LORD rejected him. At Endor heaven was silent, and Samuel said, ‘tomorrow.’ On Gilboa it came true: Saul and his sons “died together that same day.” The kingdom passes to the man God had already chosen, whose reign begins in 2 Samuel.

When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

Night at a shallow ford of the Jordan under a half moon: a long line of men of Jabesh in dark wool cloaks, with staffs and unlit torches, wading across the slow river among tamarisks and reeds, seen from behind.

all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Dusk on the hill outside Jabesh: an old tamarisk with feathery gray-green foliage, a low mound of fresh earth edged with fieldstones at its foot, men of the town sitting around it in rough dark sackcloth with dust on their heads, the walled town small behind.

Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

Pray

The King who never fails

Saul’s reign ended in defeat, just as God had said. Thank God that His word always comes true, and that His King, Jesus, the Son of David, never fails His people. Ask for grace to finish faithfully. Ask for courage like the men of Jabesh, who remembered kindness and honored the fallen.

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1 Samuel 31

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A verse to carry with you

Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31:13

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